This article written by Karen Fisk details the life and career of Richard Arkwright, a textile tycoon in the 18th century. Fisk brings to question the common characterization of Arkwright as the “father of the factory system” as well as the “founding father of the industrial revolution”. Arkwright was an educated man, and in being…
Textiles and Factories
Textiles and Factories
Fisk-Arkwright-1998
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Frisk starts off the article by telling us that Richard Arkwright is usually credited with revolutionizing the technical basis of cotton production between 1768 and 1792, turning it from a cottage industry to a worldwide proportion. Arkwright was also called the “founding father of the Industrial Revolution” and “father of the factory system” because he…
Textiles and Factories
Fisk, “Arkwright”
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In the reading, “Arkwright: Cotton King or Spin Doctor?” Karen Fisk looks critically upon Richard Arkwright’s influence on the textile industry, as well as the evolution of the industry itself. First, who is Richard Arkwright? Sometimes referred to as “’founding father’ of the Industrial revolution” or “father of the factory system,” Arkwright was a trained …
Textiles and Factories
Textiles and Steam Engines
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Pages 73 to 101 in Cardwell’s book “Turning Points in Western Technology” provide a detailed description of how the steam engine was invented and maximized for efficiency and how textiles production was mechanized for the industrial revolution. Cardwell first talks about early attempts to mechanize spinning. This mechanization process was introduced with inventions such as …
Textiles and Factories
Cotton Statistics: “Cotton is King”
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The most used phrase to describe the U.S. economic growth of the 19thcentury was “Cotton Is King.” Based on the statistics of that period, I would say that the phrase sums the period up pretty well. Cotton production in the United States gained a large share of the world market between the years of 1840 …